OK I dont remember if I saw this here or not but here goes. My family and I were talking about trees and decorations.I feel the tree is for everyone but it is really for the kids. So do you let your kids decorate it and leave it as is or do you want a perfectly decorated tree. I have let mine do my tree and dont feel any need to change anything they have done. Its not perfect and of course some of the balls and stuff are bunched together but you know what I like it just that way.

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Stephanie

I let my son decorate it pretty much on his own. I did move a few things around becuse he's only 3 1/2 which meant that only the bottom third of my tree was decorated! Gone are the days of the perfect Martha Stewart inspired christmas trees but I have to admit that I like it better this way!

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This year, we let the kids pretty much do it on their own. Of course, Brian hung the decorations at the very top (I don't do ladders very well-lol). We would tell the kids if there were too many blue ornaments, or red ones in the same area, etc. and they would move them around. I think it's looks very nice. The kids and I just finished up with the icicles about an hour ago!

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~*~ Angie~*~
Wife to Brian
SAHM to Sarah & Andy 2/11/2000

My dd and I did the glass ornament on the top and the littler ones did the rest. I love it that way!! My 4 yr old even glued some popcicle sticks together and called them an ornament. He hung it on the tree, it is still there!

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~Happiness is a large family~

I was looking at our tree last night and thought, "Boy, that is one gaudy tree!" But, you know what? I would not change it. We have Clifford, Big Bird, tons of Star Wars ornaments, even Emmit Smith as a Cowboy on it down low. The glass ornaments, nativity sets, etc. are up a bit higher so the kids can't mess with it. My dh loves bubble lights, which I consider pretty ugly, but gave in as he loves them. He should enjoy the tree, too.

So, I moved stuff around a bit, but pretty much left it. The kids loved telling the babysitter last night about their "ornaments" they put on and where they were.

We let DS put on all the ones that were toddler-proof, which was a good lot of them. He hung them all, literally, on three branches of the tree. The branches were hanging down to the floor LOL We should have taken a photo but we forgot - when he went to bed we distributed them a little around the bottom 1/4 of the tree. He loves walking around the front of the tree pointing and saying "I put this one on and I put the snowman on"; he's so proud. We hung the rest of the ornaments after he went to bed, with the tree lights off (easier to see the holes & spaces) and then turned it on in a "ooh wow" moment after we were done.

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I usually decorate the top half, the boys the bottom half. Ya know, those Martha Stewart trees are pretty to look at but they don't have that "homey" feeling to them. They're just to perfect! I am like Claire. We have the entire cast from Sesame Street, Barney, Bob the Builder, Batman, Clifford, Spongebob, Dora and tons of others that are made of hard plastic and made to play with. Half the time the bottom fourth of my tree is bare and I'll have to go on an ornament hunt. But that's what they'll remember!

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Our tree is definately a family tree. Dh helped with the lights and the star. The kids helped me with all the ornaments-i put up the breakable ones and they did all the non-breakable ones. We have all sorts of ornaments too. I also put up our 4 ft. tree, just did white lights and garland. I think maybe each year I will go with a color theme on that one. Than I can still have a pretty tree and then have our family tree. Both trees were lots of fun to put up.

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Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.
Jon Bon Jovi

hee hee. Even my husband is not allowed to decorate the living room tree. He can't place an ornament right and I always have to move & fix them. And he drops them. He's allowed to decorate the family room trees (the one w/ the reject ornaments). LOL.